Neoliberal reform and protest in Latin American democracies: A replication and correction

Do neoliberal economic reforms in Latin American democracies mobilize citizens to overcome their collective action problems and protest? A recent addition to the scholarship on this crucial question of the relationship of markets and politics, Bellinger and Arce (2011), concludes that economic liber...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Frederick Solt, Dongkyu Kim, Kyu Young Lee, Spencer Willardson, Seokdong Kim
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2014-08-01
Series:Research & Politics
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/2053168014545413
_version_ 1819064901564366848
author Frederick Solt
Dongkyu Kim
Kyu Young Lee
Spencer Willardson
Seokdong Kim
author_facet Frederick Solt
Dongkyu Kim
Kyu Young Lee
Spencer Willardson
Seokdong Kim
author_sort Frederick Solt
collection DOAJ
description Do neoliberal economic reforms in Latin American democracies mobilize citizens to overcome their collective action problems and protest? A recent addition to the scholarship on this crucial question of the relationship of markets and politics, Bellinger and Arce (2011), concludes that economic liberalization does have this effect, working to repoliticize collective actors and reinvigorate democracy. We reexamine the article’s analyses and demonstrate that they misinterpret the marginal effect of the variables of theoretical interest. Thus, the article’s optimistic claims about the consequences for democracy of economic liberalization in the region are not supported by its own empirical results. It is argued here that its results suggest instead that protests became more common in autocracies when they moved away from markets. Rather than speaking to how people have mobilized to protest against liberal reforms in Latin America’s democracies, the work’s analyses illuminate only when people protested against the region’s dictatorships.
first_indexed 2024-12-21T15:37:56Z
format Article
id doaj.art-dc9a0d3b83464d39870018b744026dce
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2053-1680
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-21T15:37:56Z
publishDate 2014-08-01
publisher SAGE Publishing
record_format Article
series Research & Politics
spelling doaj.art-dc9a0d3b83464d39870018b744026dce2022-12-21T18:58:35ZengSAGE PublishingResearch & Politics2053-16802014-08-01110.1177/205316801454541310.1177_2053168014545413Neoliberal reform and protest in Latin American democracies: A replication and correctionFrederick Solt0Dongkyu Kim1Kyu Young Lee2Spencer Willardson3Seokdong Kim4University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USAUniversity of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USAUniversity of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USANazarbayev UniversitySungkyunkwan UniversityDo neoliberal economic reforms in Latin American democracies mobilize citizens to overcome their collective action problems and protest? A recent addition to the scholarship on this crucial question of the relationship of markets and politics, Bellinger and Arce (2011), concludes that economic liberalization does have this effect, working to repoliticize collective actors and reinvigorate democracy. We reexamine the article’s analyses and demonstrate that they misinterpret the marginal effect of the variables of theoretical interest. Thus, the article’s optimistic claims about the consequences for democracy of economic liberalization in the region are not supported by its own empirical results. It is argued here that its results suggest instead that protests became more common in autocracies when they moved away from markets. Rather than speaking to how people have mobilized to protest against liberal reforms in Latin America’s democracies, the work’s analyses illuminate only when people protested against the region’s dictatorships.https://doi.org/10.1177/2053168014545413
spellingShingle Frederick Solt
Dongkyu Kim
Kyu Young Lee
Spencer Willardson
Seokdong Kim
Neoliberal reform and protest in Latin American democracies: A replication and correction
Research & Politics
title Neoliberal reform and protest in Latin American democracies: A replication and correction
title_full Neoliberal reform and protest in Latin American democracies: A replication and correction
title_fullStr Neoliberal reform and protest in Latin American democracies: A replication and correction
title_full_unstemmed Neoliberal reform and protest in Latin American democracies: A replication and correction
title_short Neoliberal reform and protest in Latin American democracies: A replication and correction
title_sort neoliberal reform and protest in latin american democracies a replication and correction
url https://doi.org/10.1177/2053168014545413
work_keys_str_mv AT fredericksolt neoliberalreformandprotestinlatinamericandemocraciesareplicationandcorrection
AT dongkyukim neoliberalreformandprotestinlatinamericandemocraciesareplicationandcorrection
AT kyuyounglee neoliberalreformandprotestinlatinamericandemocraciesareplicationandcorrection
AT spencerwillardson neoliberalreformandprotestinlatinamericandemocraciesareplicationandcorrection
AT seokdongkim neoliberalreformandprotestinlatinamericandemocraciesareplicationandcorrection